Why is horse slaughter any different than other types?

Question

Why is it so terrible to slaughter a horse? We do the same to cows? Chickens? Do people even realize how much we consume that relates to animals? Ever have marshmellows in your hot chocolate? Did you know they are a beef byproduct? Slaughter is a necessary process. Where would we dispose of all these 1000 to 1500 lb animals if we didnt send them off to be eaten? I would much rather send my horse down the road when she gets old than to find her out in the pasture either dead or dying. I have sold many horses to "meat" buyers, and I have no regrets. As for making the big bucks, get real maybe $100 for an adult horse. I really get upset with the people who are against horse slaughter, they must have no real sense of what they are proposing we do with these horses. Set them free?? That would be cruelty, they would starve to death, break bones and suffer, be eaten by mountain lions... Who is going to put up the $$$ to support the thousands of horses that would be set free?

Answer 1

Huge issue here.
One thing that is different then cows, our that horses get chemicals put onto there hooves etc. that are not for humans to eat. I would think they need to get that out of there system before slaughter and sent out of the United States (other countries eat horse meat people).
Setting horses free is rather stupid thinking, or backward thinking if you ask me! Not to mention cruel!!
People who are against slaughter do not have a clue, and by the most part do not have big critters, and if they do it is a past time for them. These people never have kept a horse longer then it took to get tired of it and sell it off yet again. They never had to deal with a dead horse for one reason or another (either old age or health and died or some reason). Which these do not go to slaughter but some diffarence.....

Hey I got a idea, those who scream and yell over it you can take the horses to there house they can pay meat market value for the critter and you can unload in there backyard (hopefully they have a fence), or there living room of there apartment :0)

Answer 2

I agree with you that it is necessary. There just isn't room for all the horses people don't want any more to be set free to eat grass, and to think that there is is naive and stupid (they obviously have no clue how much we all spend on hay every winter, and how much care some of these old horses need). It would not be any more practical than setting free all the cats and dogs in shelters. On the other side of the coin, however, a lot of horses sold for slaughter are purchased at auctions and shipped long distance under horrible conditions, and they don't all arrive alive. Death at a slaughterhouse is not always the humane process people would like to believe, either (I was a meat inspector in an equine slaughterhouse (also did cows and pigs), so I know what I speak of). I think it is sad that the horse's last few minutes are spent in absolute terror, and sometimes terrible pain. I wish we could make the slaughter process more humane, and it's not something I would EVER do to one of my horses, but it's still a lot better than the slow, agonizing, painful deaths that some who know nothing about horses would condemn old, arthritic, laminitic, etc horses to die. If the equine slaughter ban goes through, we will start seeing horses abandoned in parks, by the side of the road, anywhere people can leave them, and it will be a disaster. They will get hit by cars, show up in residential neighborhoods, become a nuisance, and die in the places where they are abandoned. It's too bad euthanasia and disposal can't be free, but they aren't and there are a lot of people who can't afford to dispose of a horse in any way other than auctions and slaughter. Sad but true, getting rid of horse slaughter would have the same effect on horses that eliminating shelters would have on dogs. It's just not feasible. For what it's worth, the American Veterinary Medical Assn and The American Assn of Equine Practitioners are both against the ban on equine slaughter.

Answer 3

Because horses are thought of to be more of a companion animal than the others you mentioned.

I love my horses as if they were my children and I could NEVER send one off to the meat market. That's great that you can, but don't slam the rest of us because we have closer relationships with our horses than you do.

As far as the part of your questions that asks "Where would we dispose of all these 1000 to 1500 lb animals if we didnt send them off to be eaten"......I don't think of my horses as disposable. If I get a horse I will keep it until it dies and I am prepared to do whatever I need to do to make sure that his body is disposed of in a proper matter. Right now I bury them on my property. If I couldn't do that I would have a renderer take the body away after it died or was HUMANELY put down.

Answer 4

It's not different, but it is a cultural thing. For example, the older generation in Korea have no problem with raising dogs for slaughter. It stems from cultural and historical events, but many Europeans and Americans have issues with it because dogs have a special status in our culture. Horses do too. Personally I don't eat horses or dogs simply because I know too many of them as friends, but I understand that many people out there only see these animals as another source of food. People where I live have a problem with culling wild deer. They don't realize that because we killed all the wolves in the area the deer are overpopulated and dying of starvation and disease. It's all a matter of culture and perspective.

Answer 5

There are many horse rescues. I could never eat a horse, they are just not for that purpose. JMO. Horses were put here by God as transportation. And many people feel they are great pets, they I believe rank number 3 after dogs and cats as the most beloved pet. Plus they are absolutely beautiful. And I think in most marshmallows it is gelatin witch is usually used with pork, so you can buy halal or kosher, there is no pork in those.

Answer 6

1) Horses are killed using tools designed for COWS. Horses deaths in these commercial slaughter plants are neither humane nor painless. Horses are hit with a bolt through the skull which does not alway kill instantly. Sometimes they need to be hit again. Sometimes the dis-assembly line has a quota and they're hung up and bled out while still alive.

2) Cows are killed prompty and locally. Horses are trucked 1000+ miles to either TX or IL (the only 2 slaughterhouses) and can suffer for days or weeks. There are zero laws to protect "meat" horses. They're shipped 30-40 in a tractor trailer in all weather. If one falls down, he stays down until days later when they arrive.

3) Horses to most people are seen in the same light as cats and dogs. You wouldn't condone a dog slaughthouse if someone in Asia wanted to eat puppy meat?

4) By saying some horses are "meat" we remove ALL laws protecting them. Livestock abuse or neglect is still not a crime!? Some horses are dropped off a few at a time at feedlots (kill buyer pens) and may be there weeks or months -- NO vet care, no pain medicine, nothing.

5) It's a hypocritical system, so on principle I find it offensive. If I beat my horse to get him on a trailer, I'd go to jail... but a meatman can do it. If I used a cattleprod on my horse, I'd have horselovers trying to use one on me... but they're used all the time to get "downed" (too sick or injured to stand) horses unloaded off the trailer. If I starved my horse, Animal Control would be knocking at my door... if a "meat" broker does it, it's all part of 'keeping costs down'. Such hypocrisy!

6) Any regulation is done solely by the USDA. The USDA is only interested in protecting meat companies interests by ensuring meat is safe to eat. They could care less if the animal suffered laminitis so bad it couldn't stand for the month it was stick in a feedlot. They turn a blind eye on those shipping in overloaded tractor trailers. It's illegal to sell & ship a blind horse to slaughter, but my friend bought a totally blind appoloosa at a "meat" sale for $35... but nobody can file charges against the sale or the former owner.

7) Abuse/neglect is proven NOT to increase with slaughter decreasing. Calfornia banned it already in 1998, and there is no obvious increase in abuse/neglect there. The number of horses killed is solely dependent on meat demand, and they could care less if there is or isn't a surplus. Also look at the # of horses and the # of slaughtered year by year back through the decades; we did not see a spike in neglect/abuse/abandonement the years slaughter dropped to low numbers.

8) Only 1% of the equine population goes to slaughter in recent years. That is not a significant number which can be absorbed.

9) There is already a good support mechanism between rescues, shelters, sanctuaries, etc. They're opening a big program in Kentucky that will not refuse any horses! And even better if you give your horse to a non-profit you get a tax write-off.

10) If slaughter wasn't the cheap dumping ground maybe people wouldn't be so quick to overbreed, starve, or run their horses into the ground... it rewards abuse. It pays people for horses that are so neglected they'd be unsellable otherwise.

11) Horse ownership isn't cheap. For the cost of a full set of horseshoes, a person can have their horse humanely euthanized by a vet. It's absurd people can want them but they claim they don't have the money to give them a peaceful end. And to anyone whining about the cost, a properly used bullet is considered more humane than the equine slaughter system and costs you only a few cents. No excuses, folks!

12) Americans do not directly benefit from horse slaughter. We don't eat horsemeat. The 3 slaughterhouses are all run by foriegners at a LOSS -- this means they cook the books so they don't have to pay US taxes. One of the slaughterhouses is such a nusiance the town it's in has sued to get it shut down -- and won! These foriegn-run plants are operated as cheaply as possible with no regard to the neighborhood, the environment (spills of blood, bone, and offal), the workers, and/or the animals.

13) Slaughter motivates theft. When slaughter was banned in california, horse theft dropped the following year signficiantly. It's the perfect crime where you get instant cash and the "evidence" is gone. Slaughter houses are NOT required by law to hold horses suspected of being stolen/lost.... and they're not required by law to check tattoos or microchips.

14) It's just the right thing to do for an animal that willingly worked hard for us his whole life. If you donate him to a rescue, you get a writeoff. If you put him down yourself, it costs nothing. Compared to the lousy $100 or $200 of blood money, saying no is the right thing to do.

Answer 7

(1), we wouldnt just set them free.
(2) SHAME ON YOU for selling an animal who loves and trusts you to go to a place of absolute suffering and pain.
(3) people in the USA dont even eat horse meat,we ship it to other countries. i they absolutely need horse meat THAT BAD then they should slaughter thier owns freaking horses
(4) horses are many times STOLEN and sold for MURDER
(5) you shouldnt even have horses if you dont love them at all
"I have sold many horses to 'meat' buyers and feel no regrets"
THAT IS NOT CARING FOR YOUR PETS
(6) people like you are the ones who end up on Animal Cops

Answer 8

Horses are considered companion animals. Wether they are wild mustangs or broken down race horses. We can't consider horse feed as a farm use any more. We don't view cattle and hogs as pets, horses we do. Why do you think horse masage therapies and dentists and chiropractors are getting more popular? We dont' pay $1000 to get our pregnant heffer's back put in place.

Answer 9

Setting them free wouldn't be cruelty. Setting them free defenseless in an unfamiliar environment would be. But setting them free in a wildlife preserve or something similar wouldn't be cruelty. I would never eat a horse. And how would a horse starve to death if you set them free on a grassy plain???!!!!!!

Answer 10

first of all $100 for a horse is really cheap and i just to say i wouldnt sell one of my horses for that price unless i was desprate for money. but thats just you. and really the only thing we use cattle and exc. for is meat to provide for us as food. horses we have many more uses for that just to go off and kill them. and setting them free would not be cruelty! because they would be abole to eat grass for example dont you realize that the wild mustangs of nevada do it? they hav instincs just like us they know when their in trouble and when their not. they could take care of them selfs. and if you really loved your horses uyou wouldnt kill them. id let them live their life out.